Suspicions
by Ava Miranda Dakedavra
Summary: Remus has been acting funny lately, leaving Sirius to believe that he could possibly be the traitor in the Order of the Phoenix. Of course, it's just an awful misunderstanding, right? Right?
1. Chapter 1

**AU, Time-wimey, blah-blah-blah.**

* * *

Sirius had been noticing that something was off about his friend a few months before Lily was supposed to have her and James's baby. He'd been distracted more, and kept skiving off on them to go do _something _– Sirius didn't know what, which made him all the more anxious – and he would always step around any questions that he asked.

Like the other night, Sirius had asked if he wanted to go walk around somewhere, and when he asked where to go and Sirius answered "Diagon Alley," he immediately said that it wasn't a good idea. When asked why, he'd given a poor excuse of Death Eaters lurking around. Peter, instead, was up for it, making Remus shrug at them and turn back to his book, but then Sirius was left to walk around Diagon Alley with Peter, and that hadn't been fun at all.

Sirius was very upset to say that he was beginning to believe that Remus – well, the traitor. And that thought didn't sit well with him.

* * *

**These'll be really short story things, but I'm typing them all up together and I'll try to update them when I'm having trouble with other stories. (Or perhaps all at once. Dunno yet.) **


	2. Chapter 2

Sirius hadn't always been so focused on schoolwork, mainly on Quidditch and pranking. At least, that's what his friends knew he was focused on. He focused on a lot more than that, like people. He thought they were weird, the reason they did the things they did and what justified that. He later learned, after this whole ordeal, that he would love psychology, which was a study of the mind, and sociology, which was a study of people.

So he knew, obviously, when his friends acted funny. Except Peter, and this goes for two reasons – one being that he didn't really consider him a friend, another being that Peter always acted funny.

He couldn't figure out what was wrong, though. If Remus _was_ a Death Eater – which held a whole bunch of questions itself – then why would he bother to hang around them? He realized it was for the Order, which they had all joined shortly after they left Hogwarts, and this made Sirius a bit peeved off. For all the normal reasons, yeah, but why wouldn't he just come off and say that he was a Death Eater and didn't want to be friends anymore? Really, the nerve of leading them on – terribly rude.

But things didn't match up with this theory. The Death Eaters really hated werewolves – aside from ones like Fenrir Greyback – and they certainly showed disdain towards him with any encounters they had, and Remus was a half-blood aside from that, and the dates and times that they had of known Death Eater meetings (which the Death Eaters didn't know they had, mind you) didn't match up with when Remus decided to leave a meeting early.

Things were far too confusing for Sirius, and when this happens he likes to go for walks – shush, it had nothing to do with his Animagus being a dog – and he once took a walk along Diagon Alley by himself at night. Of course, this was dangerous, but he felt confident that he could take care of himself…either that, or freak the Death Eaters out by turning into the Grim and sprinting away.

Anyway, he was walking down the dark pavement, his thoughts to himself, when a light flicked on and sent him rushing behind a bush on the sidewalk, peeking over it to find out what had made the disturbance.

It was a woman, who most likely owned the bookshop she was in and probably lived above it, who had turned on the light to grab parchment, quills, and a few books. She sat behind the counter and began to work, tying her crazy curly brown hair up into a knot on the top of her head before doing so, although her bangs continued to brush across her eyes and make her frown.

Sirius stood slowly in the shadows before continuing on his way, thinking that if he and Moony had been on good, non-suspicious terms, he'd attempted to set her up with him.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Muggles Dead, Use of the Killing Curse Confirmed_**

_Two Muggles, a husband and wife, Robert and Catherine Granger, who was very far along in her pregnancy, were found dead this morning by their neighbor, Pattie Doyle, who immediately called Muggle policemen (somewhat like Aurors.) The policemen found no signs of any Muggle ailments, such as poison or wounds, and wrote it off as Carbon Monoxide poisoning (a deathly gas.) However, Aurors have confirmed that they were killed by the Killing Curse, and wonder whether there were ties to the Death Eaters, or if this was a random killing. Either way, the Daily Prophet and parents everywhere are overwhelmed that they killed an innocent family that had just barely begun their lives together, as Robert and Catherine were only married for two years prior. _

Remus didn't show up at the Order at all that day. Dumbledore found it understandable, but Sirius, James and Peter couldn't. There wasn't a full moon nearing or passing, he hadn't been sick, and he wasn't aching from a previous fight or anything.

Sirius and James dropped off at his house to try to find him and ask what was wrong, but it was dark and empty. Sirius told James his suspicions of Remus being untrustworthy then, which was hard to convince him of, but he promised to start paying more attention as well.

The night after, however, their friend showed up, looking rather depressed and extremely distracted. James caught Sirius's eye during a meeting and winced, upset with what he saw. If what Sirius had said had any meaning, then it wasn't well for the Marauders.


	4. Chapter 4

A few months came on and the two boys saw that Remus, although looking less depressed, was still distracted and still leaving early some nights and skiving off on them occasionally. Lily suggested asking him about it, to which they scoffed at and told her not to worry about, which then sprouted a forty-five minute tear session from the mood-swing inflicted witch.

Remus was there, however, when it came to Lily and the baby. He'd give advice and books he found that could ease any worries she (or James) had told him about a few days earlier and give them the exact page or paragraph that would give them what they needed. Lily insisted that he didn't have to, but once he shrugged and muttered to himself with a smile, "Not exactly an option." This sent alarms off on Sirius, and he kept an even closer eye on his friend. This once consisted of refusing to leave his side for a night, which confused Remus but mainly amused him.

He couldn't figure out what, but Remus _definitely_ had something going on.


	5. Chapter 5

"Can't believe you're that stupid," Remus frowned at his friend, shoving him onto his couch as James frowned at Sirius as well.

"Yeah, well, you guys would've gotten hurt," he brushed it off, wincing at his shoulder, "That hurt."

"Yeah, it's dislocated," Remus said dully, walking over to a bookshelf and pulling out a book, flipping through the pages before putting it back and getting another. "I probably have a way to set it back into place somewhere around here, if not you'll have to go to Mungo's. If that's the case, think up a cover story for the nurses."

"I was playing Quidditch," he said immediately.

"At ten o'clock at night?" James snorted.

Sirius shrugged with his good arm, "I'm a rebel."

They both grinned and shook their heads at him, Remus keeping his focus on the book in his hands.

James began to wander around, looking over things in his house dully, "Haven't been here in a while."

"Yeah, neither have I," Remus admitted off-handedly.

"Why not?" Sirius questioned.

Remus put the book back and took another, "I've got research I've been doing. Talked to Dumbledore about it, he says it's plausible, but not to tell too many people. We still haven't found the rat yet."

"And you thought one of us was the rat?" Sirius asked, highly offended, although that was rather hypocritical of him.

He shook his head, "No, but I could never talk to you two alone. And besides – I didn't really know all of what I was researching up until recently. And even then, I've had so many other questions."

"And what have you been researching?" James asked.

He gave a grin, "How about I fix Sirius's arm first before it's permanently like that?"

"Yeah, I'd like that first," Sirius said, making him sit by his bad arm with the book open on his knee, wand out and eyebrows furrowed. He muttered the incantation, then dropped his wand and appraised Sirius for a moment before gasping and pointing.

"Hey, look, what's that!" he said excitedly, making him turn his head in confusion and yelp when he felt hands press down on his shoulder and a _pop_ announcing that it was back into place.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Sirius growled as he glared, "I thought you knew a spell?"

Remus snorted, "Really? Muggles even just pop them back into place."

"Then what was the looking through the book?" he frowned.

"I don't think anything with medicinal or healing purposes would be in a Herbology textbook," he grinned, showing the pages.

Sirius glared at him even more as he got up and put the book away, "Well what was that spell then?"

"Numbed your arm," he shrugged, turning back around and arching an eyebrow, "D'you want to hear now?"

"Yes," James answered for him. "Yes, yes we do."

"There's a really dark spell that allows somebody to split their soul in two and put one piece in a thing to become immortal. This thing is called a Horcrux," he began, "Now, normally, it's bad enough to split it into _two_. We've found out that You-Know-Who has split it or is attempting to split it into seven pieces. Of course, you can kill Horcruxes, but it takes a lot more than a spell or fire. Fiendfyre works, though, and basilisk venom too, and that's all I can think of to kill it. We've begun to look for more possibilities and what the Horcruxes could be, and we've got some help from Dumbledore, but it'll take time and questions and answers. Of course, there's still questions and answers, but I think we've got most of it solved so far."

"I have a question," Sirius spoke up before James could.

"Shoot," he dropped down into a chair.

"Who's this 'we' person you keep talking about?"

Remus winced and gave a small blush, "That, I can't talk about."

James and Sirius blinked, "So there is somebody?"

"Well, yes, but – "

James cut him off, "Why can't you tell then?"

He gave a huff, crossing his arms over his chest, "It isn't really _mine_ to tell. That's an entirely different story that we aren't even sure is ready to be shared yet."

"Who all knows?" Sirius questioned.

"Dumbledore and I," he answered.

"And you won't tell us at all?" James pouted as Remus shook his head. "Not fair." He stood to leave, but Remus stopped him.

"James…look, don't pick Peter," he said.

"Don't pick Peter for what?" he blinked.

"Just don't pick Peter," he insisted.

"Why?"

Remus stood and grabbed his shoulders, "James, listen to me, okay? I've got reasons, and damn good ones, but you _can't_ pick Peter. Very bad outcomes if you do."

He blinked at him as Sirius stood as well, interrupting the silence by clearing his throat.

"So, uhh, how long will my arm be numb?" he questioned, making Remus pull back and answer him. Before they left, James agreed with him, making him sigh and smile at him.


	6. Chapter 6

Sirius had gone back to Remus's house later that night, ready to ask him to numb his arm again (as it was making it rather difficult to sleep, what with the pain and all) but stopped from calling out to him after he stepped from the Floo. He could hear Remus laughing, and soon enough he was speaking, coming from either the library or his room, which was upstairs.

"No, no, c'mon, I'm sorry, I promise," he chuckled as he did.

Something dropped down, and Sirius was surprised to hear a voice he didn't recognize, feminine and a little teasing, "Mmn-hmmn."

"Alright, I love your hair," Remus said, "It's amazing. Everyone should be jealous."

She – whoever _she_ was – snorted, "I would've believed you up until that point."

"Darn," he laughed, something making her laugh too, "I was so close, huh?" They were silent for a few moments before he asked, "Still love me?"

"Even though you made fun of my hair?"

"Even though I made fun of your hair?"

She gave another laugh, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Cool. Love you too."

Sirius gaped and quietly headed back to the Floo. Forget about pain, the discovery of why Remus was really ditching out on them for was far more important.


	7. Chapter 7

"Ohh, he's so…tiny."

"Great adjective there, Padfoot," Remus grinned at him, leaning over James's shoulders to see the squirmy bundle.

"Shush," Lily chided, but smiling at the boys, "James?"

"Yeah?" he asked quietly, turning back to her with the baby.

"We need a name for him," she said.

James was getting ready to think long and hard about this, as they hadn't decided beforehand on one specific name, when Remus spoke up.

"Hey, what about…Harry?" he asked, trying for nonchalant.

They thought before smiling at each other.

"I like it," Lily said as James put him back into her arms, "Hullo, Harry…James Potter." James blinked at her before grinning and pecking her forehead.


	8. Chapter 8

"Dirty rat!"

"Sirius, calm down!"

"You little – I'm gonna wring your neck – how could you do that to Lily and James?!"

"Sirius, he didn't even get the chance!" Remus yelled back, he and James holding him back from attempting to kill Peter as he was being led away by Kingsley. "We stopped him, they and Harry are okay."

Sirius visibly calmed down, still glaring at the coward as Lily rocked Harry back and forth, cooing to him and promising it'd be alright as he cried over what had attempted to happen. Peter and a few other Death Eaters had tried to attack the Potters, even in front of Remus and Sirius, but didn't quite get the chance, as Dumbledore had come through the fire before anything could've happened.

"Mister Lupin, if Mister Black has calmed down enough, I believe you should check on a mutual friend of ours and tell them to _stay put_," Dumbledore advised before he left with the Aurors. "I have a feeling a war is ready to break out."

"Right," Remus nodded, patting Sirius on the shoulder and pecking Lily's hair, pointing to James to have him fix his glasses before he left.


	9. Chapter 9

"I'm scared."

Sirius lifted his head and saw that James was holding Harry, running his hands through his son's already thick black hair, looking worriedly at his friend.

"About what, Prongs?" Sirius questioned.

"About what's going to happen, when it's going to happen, and who it will hurt," he admitted with a sigh, Harry stirring a little. "I just hope it isn't Harry and Lily, or you and Moony."

"Oh, you big softy," he said with a grin, "We'll be fine. We'll make sure Lily and Harry will be fine too."

"If anything happened to you lot though…."

"I know – same here," he said. Sirius grinned as Harry opened his eyes and blinked blearily at him before snuggling in closer to James's chest, attempting to fall back to sleep with a few whimpers. "He wants us to shut up."

"Yeah," James chuckled, grimacing when Harry gave a whine before settling back to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

"Any idea where Remus is tonight?" Lily asked once she'd pecked Harry's head and attempted to straighten his hair, although with no luck.

"Nah," James shook his head, going over reports for work with Sirius, "'Course, could be that thing he talked to us about."

Sirius gave a noncommittal hum, filling in another report form before raising his head and blinking up at Lily as she left the room, Harry now in James's lap, "Hey…d'you think that person he's working with on it…."

"Yeah?" James questioned.

"Well, d'you think it could be a woman?" he asked.

"A woman?" James blinked, "Would it be someone we'd know?"

"Dunno, but – ahh, I have a theory." As James arched an eyebrow, he quickly told him about when he'd gone to Remus's house to ask for his arm to be numbed again and what he'd heard, and the thought that perhaps they were keeping both from them as it was the same person. James found this entirely plausible, but decided that it'd be best to confront Remus about it, as it _was_ his business.

Sirius opened his mouth to say something more, and he'd remembered that it had, at the very least, been sarcastic, when a misty cat flew in from the chimney.

"Wards are down at Hogwarts, a battle is coming," McGonagall's voice came from the cat, "All help for the Order is requested."


	11. Chapter 11

Remus skidded to a stop beside his friends, his hair already askew and a cut on his cheek, breathing heavily as they appraised each other.

"Stay safe?" Remus finally asked.

James and Sirius nodded before Sirius cracked a grin and bumped his shoulder.

"For once in our lives?"

Remus gave a laugh before freezing, glaring suddenly and running off, grabbing a woman's arm and tugging her back to where Sirius and James could see.

"I thought I told you to stay home?" Remus questioned loudly and worriedly.

She gave a huff, sending a curly lock of brown hair up in the air as she glared back at him and gripped her wand, looking defiantly up into his eyes, "Remus Lupin, if you think for one damn minute that I'll sit back and let people get hurt without an uproar, you're delusional."

"Hermione!" he yelled, "You can't get hurt!"

"And neither can you, or anybody else!" she argued back, "Remus, I'm not just fighting for the people here today – I'm fighting for _them_ too. Just because a few aren't born yet, doesn't make a difference."

He looked her up and down for a moment before arching an eyebrow, "Will you promise to stay safe?"

She gave a grin before pecking his cheek, slipping through people as he watched her go anxiously before jogging back to Sirius and James.

"Look, Sirius, I need you to make sure she'll be alright," he said, looking at him pleadingly.

"Why?" he asked, not arguing, just curious.

"If we make it out of this, I'll tell you everything," he swore. "Just keep you and her safe – James, you worry about getting back to Lily and Harry."

"Aye, aye, Moony," James saluted before slipping off, Sirius nodding his agreement before trying to figure out where that girl had gone.


	12. Chapter 12

He had no idea where that girl had gone. She'd slipped through the massive swarm of people and had seemingly disappeared.

That is, up until he found her struggling underneath his cousin. His heart leapt into his chest as he began to run towards her, weaving through spells and people as he heard Bellatrix talk.

"Any last words, Mudblood?" she asked snidely as the smaller girl slumped against the ground.

"Yeah," she said quietly before growling and kicking her in the stomach, grabbing both her and the woman's wands and aiming them at her, "Fuck off, bitch."

Sirius gaped at the girl as she winced at the green light and quickly stowed away Bellatrix's wand, heading off to go help somebody else. "Yeah, I think she'll be okay," he said to nobody in particular.


	13. Chapter 13

"Oy, Remus!" James practically tackled his friend, mussing up his hair happily, "You're good! Great! Where's Sirius?"

"Dunno," he said worriedly, scanning the group of worn out people as James jumped off of his back and onto a table, scanning until he brightened at the sight of his friend, who waved them both over before sitting down again.

Remus sighed in relief when he saw him sitting with the brown haired girl, checking over him first and then frowning at her as she sheepishly leaned away and tried to hide herself with her hair.

"You never listen," he sighed to her, grabbing her chin and bringing her out from underneath her veil of hair, eyeing the cuts on her lip, cheekbone and eyebrow worriedly.

"I'm fine, honest," she said slowly, aware that James and Sirius were looking at them both curiously, "I can take care of myself."

"Dunno how," he said dully, touching the cut on her lip with his thumb, making her wince a little, "Something so small can't possibly be intimidating."

Her mouth popped open a little before she closed it and glared at him, making him grin and peck her cheek, which earned gapes from Sirius and James.

"Right," he said, turning to them, "James, Sirius, this is my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" they echoed together, eyebrows shooting up.

"Uh-huh," he said, grabbing one of her hands and pulling her up in front of him, hands on her shoulders to keep her there as she grinned sheepishly at them, "Her name is Hermione, and she has a lot to tell you two and Lily."

"Lily," James blinked, a hand lurching into his hair, "I need to go see Lily and Harry."

"We'll all go," Sirius suggested.


	14. Chapter 14

"I was brought here with strict orders only to give Dumbledore the information he needed, such as what the Horcruxes were and where they were hidden, half of which I had to find out for the first time myself. I suspected that, with time, no matter what you do, it ends up happening the way it was intended to. Such as no matter what I did here, the future as I knew it would keep going on as it did. Dumbledore suggested that I have a partner, and at first I insisted that it was a bad idea, but with that theory in mind he wore me down and Remus helped me find things in the books that was in my bookshop. At first we were on…uhhh – " Hermione shared a grin with him – "Not so cordial terms. But then we began to be friends. During all of this, however, I was using my middle name and my mother's maiden name, as he would eventually meet me later on in the future. And then…" her face fell, "One of the Death Eaters found out who I was and what I was doing and told Voldemort. So he killed my parents before I was born. I was actually with Dumbledore when it happened, and he said I fainted and glowed green for thirty minutes until I came to. We had no idea what it was then, until the paper came out the next morning, and when it did Remus was with us. I started crying and explained to them what happened, telling Remus who I really was and why I had used a different name. Of course, not the actual reason, only I know that." She gave a sigh, "A long while after that, Remus and I got together. He's actually very over-protective of me – "

"For good reasons," he argued, cutting her off.

"Well, I'm a ruddy Gryffindor, what do you expect?" she huffed at him with a grin, "Anyway, I found out the Battle was going on and ran to help. And that's it. Everything from eleventh year to now, skipping some bits and pieces that would only make you upset."

They absorbed this quietly before Lily spoke up, "You said you had two best friends, the Weasley boy being one of them. Who else was it?"

Hermione froze and stared at her before pursing her lips, wondering if she should tell or not.

"Hermione," Remus called out to her, "If they find out later, they'll be upset."

She sighed and nodded, looking over to where Harry was playing with a couple of blocks. It took them a few moments until they followed her gaze and stared at the toddler. He felt the gaze and looked up, grinning and waving to Hermione, who smiled and waved sadly back.

"Harry Potter," James murmured, "The Boy Who Lived?"

She nodded as Harry began to make his way over to her and Moony, crawling slowly.

Lily hid her face in her hands, trying to stop from crying. She and her husband had been killed and had left their son to her sister?

"That bitch," she'd accidentally murmured, making her pop up and blink in surprise with everyone else as Hermione winced. "No! Not you, Sweetheart, my sister! You're brilliant – I _love_ you! Thank you for taking care of Harry for as long as you did!"

Hermione gave a laugh and shrugged, giving a gasp when Harry pulled himself up with her knee and motioned to be picked up by her. She bit her lip, not noticing that James and Sirius were sharing a grin with Lily and Remus before Sirius stepped forward and picked Harry up, settling him in her lap.

"Harry, this is Hermione," Remus introduced as he stared between the two, Hermione staring back at him as well. "You should thank her for all the nice things she's done, for you and everyone else."

Harry turned his attention back onto Hermione before giving a grin and placing both of his hands on her face. "Da-doo!" he said in a sing-songy voice.

Hermione laughed and hugged him, "You're welcome, Harry."


	15. Chapter 15

"So how are you still here?"

Hermione walked past Sirius as he hung upside down on the counter in her bookshop, her arms filled with books as she walked to put them away. "Be more specific."

"Well, with your parents and everything…" he trailed off, not wanting to upset her.

"I think it was that I was tied in too much to this time to just disappear. Dumbledore knew who I really was, so I stayed. If he didn't, I would've disappeared. Instead, I'm permanently stuck in this time," she answered.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

She gave a chuckle, turning to him with a grin as she waved the last book around, "Alright – so. I told Dumbledore straight off everything, right? Including my actual name. If I'd given him some lie, I would never have existed. Instead, when they killed my parents, somebody knew I was meant to exist and I…" she noticed his face and trailed off, "You aren't getting any of this, are you?"

"No," he answered.

"Well, to put it simply – I'm staying from now until…forever," she said the last word with a sigh, eyeing the book in her hand with a frown.

"Why were you sent back, anyway?" he questioned, leaning against the counter correctly as she stood on the other side of it.

She arched an eyebrow at him, "Stuff happened that we didn't like. I volunteered to go back and attempt to fix it."

"Do you miss them?"

She stared at him for a few moments before pouting and setting her chin in her hand, "Yes. I wonder every day whether it will turn out alright for everyone else or not. But…I think if I left, I'd miss here too much as well. At least here, I know that I have a chance to stop it before it gets any worse for anybody."

"And you're a Gryffindor?" he asked.

"Yup," she grinned, straightening, "Brightest witch of my age – or, so they tell me." She stopped herself and sighed, rubbing her eyes as she took a few steps away from the counter, "_Told_ me. Sorry, I just – "

"I understand," he said kindly with a smile.

She gave a smile back, giving a small scream and whirling around to back up to the counter as Remus grinned at her. "Remus Lupin!" she gave a huff as he chuckled, "I've told you a dozen times how much I hate when you sneak up and scare me!"

"Why do you think I do it?" he grinned.

She snorted and walked past him, muttering under her breath. "Evil werewolf." He heard this and ran after her, making her scream as he picked her up and dropped her back down near Sirius – who was smiling – making her smack his arm with the book and walk away as he grinned after her.

He turned his grin onto Sirius before he dropped it an arched an eyebrow instead, "What?"

"Never seen you that happy with a girl before," he said quietly with a small smile of his own, "Now what is this relationship built on, exactly? I don't see much here." This, of course, was a big fat lie, as he saw plenty, but he wanted to see if Remus could see it.

He gave a shrug, not meeting his gaze, "I take care of her, she takes care of me." A few moments of Sirius keeping his eyebrow arched made him glance back at him, "Alright, she really likes me and I really like her." Sirius stayed silent. "Fine, I love her. Like a lot." He winced and dropped his voice, leaning in a little closer to his friend, "Like, 'marry her' a lot."

"It's that bad?" he whispered gleefully. Remus only nodded his agreement before shushing him as Hermione came back with more books, setting them on the counter and readjusting them before walking back off again.


	16. Chapter 16

"Merlin's beard, Sirius!"

"You never swear," he said in disappointment as Hermione glared at him, wand in her hand as Remus sat on the edge of his bed and watched them in amusement, his hair messed up from sleep. "Why won't you swear, Hermiono-boingo?"

She gaped at the nickname before glaring and pointing her wand at him once more, "I hate being snuck up on!"

"Why?" he asked with a grin, cocking his head to the side.

"Just don't do it," she insisted with a frown. As he pouted, she rolled her eyes and turned back to Remus, tossing a vial to him as he caught it easily. "I'll see you later, I've got to head to work."

"Alright," he grinned, "Love you."

"Love you too," she smiled back before slipping past Sirius and headed downstairs to Floo away. Sirius catapulted himself on Remus's bed as he downed the potion with a grimace.

"Moony, when're you going to ask her to marry you?" Sirius asked, suspecting that he'd get the same answer he got every time he'd asked the question for six months.

Instead, he grinned brighter and bounced up on his knees, "Tomorrow night."

Sirius beamed, "Really?"

"Yup!" he grinned before frowning at him sternly, "Don't tell her and don't show up."

He pouted and gave his best canine whine, which made him snort with a grin and throw one of his pillows at him.


	17. Chapter 17

"You've had a bad day, haven't you?" Remus asked worriedly as Hermione buried her face into a pillow, curled up on the couch. She nodded silently as he sat next to her and ran his hands through her hair, making her sigh and pull her face up to set her chin on the pillow instead, pouting at him. "Wanna tell me about it?"

"I hate people," she whimpered as she dragged her hands across her face, "I hate them so much – why do they have to be such…such…"

"You can swear around me," he reminded her with a grin.

"They're giant pricks and I feel no remorse in calling them so," she said.

He chuckled and hugged her closer, tugging her into his lap, "Anything I could do to make it better?"

"Just keep doing what you're doing," she murmured, wrapping her arms around his neck. He nodded and pecked the side of her head, making her hum and reach up to kiss him back with a smile.


	18. Chapter 18

"So…when is it acceptable to call you two 'the Lupins'?" James asked with a grin as Harry sat on top of Hermione's counter and stared at him with a serious expression, wondering if he would succeed in grabbing his father's glasses away without him noticing.

Remus grinned as Sirius and Lily hugged Hermione, who looked very lost and confused but was laughing and hugging them back all the same, "After we're married."

"Which will be when?" James asked as Harry whirled around to blink at Remus, as he hadn't noticed he was there as well, as he'd just woken up from his nap.

"Moo'y!" Harry said happily, reaching for him as he grinned and picked him up.

"It will be whenever Harry stops calling me 'Moo' anything," Remus insisted as James gave a sheepish grin.

"He thinks 'Moony' is easier to say than 'Remus,'" he shrugged as Hermione walked over to them.

"'Ermione!" Harry said happily, making Remus blink down at him before glaring at James, who only hid behind the counter in response.


	19. Chapter 19

"Mumma," Harry insisted with a frown, fidgeting as she messed with his hair, "Stop it. Please."

"It won't lie flat," she said, licking her palm and smoothing Harry's hair back as he grimaced to his amused father. Sirius watched as Lily nodded at her work and walked away to go help Molly Weasley. He quickly dashed up to Harry and ruffled his hair back up for him, making the four year old grin at his godfather as he winked and walked over to James.

"When is she supposed to be here again?" he asked, looking around as Harry ran about with Ron, the Weasley twins conversing eagerly with their uncles, which signaled a prank about to be pulled.

"As soon as Remus gets back," James answered before arching an eyebrow, "Hey, did he tell you something about a surprise?"

"Besides this party? Yeah," Sirius looked curiously back at him, "Wonder what it could be." He shrugged before grabbing at a passing Harry and towing him up on his knee, rubbing at a smudge on his son's glasses with his thumb as Harry wiggled, Ron waiting patiently for his friend to be put back down. This didn't happen, as they quickly had to duck down in the backyard, the lights that were strung in the trees quickly being extinguished and the voices hushed.

"Backyard," Remus's voice floated from the open door.

"Why?" Hermione's voice came through, "What happened to the backyard? Did Fabian and Gideon do something to it again?"

He gave a laugh, "No, not yet."

"What do you mean by – ?"

"SURPRISE!"

Hermione's eyes widened and she gripped onto her husband's arm as her friends popped up out of their hiding places with grins on their faces, the lights coming back on as she blinked at them. She finally beamed back at them, turning to Remus as he grinned and pecked her head.

"Happy Birthday, Hermione," he said as she gave a laugh.

"Wow, it certainly was a surprise," she smiled before hugging Lily and Molly Weasley, giving a peck to Harry's head as James held him, pecking the older of the two afterwards and smiling as Sirius waited, rocking back and forth on his heels. She grabbed his head and placed a peck on the top, ruffling up his hair as he ruffled hers.

"Think we should give them their surprise?" Remus asked with a grin towards his wife nearly two hours later, making her smirk a little and nod.

"You want to do it?" she asked.

"What?" Sirius began, leaning towards his friend with interest.

"What is it?" James asked, he and Harry leaning across the table they had set up.

"Well…" he stretched it out, grinning once everyone quieted and listen. "Hermione's pregnant."

"I'm due in June," Hermione grinned before shoving a piece of cake into her mouth hastily, as Lily was squeezing her already. James and Sirius both leapt towards Remus, tackling him to the ground as he laughed at them prodding him purposefully in various places.

"'Ey!" Hermione laughed, "Don't kill my husband! I want our little girl to have a father!"

"It's a girl?" Molly cooed, hands placed to her heart.

"We went to the doctor's tonight," Remus explained as he grinned at James punching him in the shoulder, "They took all of these tests and told use the due date and the gender."

"Eww," Harry proclaimed on the table, hands on his hips, "Why can't it be a boy?"

"Yeah," Ron pouted next to him, "Ginny's already one too many girls."

"I give them one look before they're her protectors," Molly assured Hermione, making her chuckle and nod.

"They'll only be a few years apart, they should be running around Hogwarts together for a few years," Sirius mused.

"The new Marauders!" James exclaimed brightly, "Two of which being descendants from the actual Marauders!"

As Ron began to droop, Sirius quickly scooped him up and onto his shoulders, "Of course, the Weasleys are practically family anyway." Ron smiled at him as he grinned up at him.

Hermione watched as Harry jumped onto his father's back like a spider-monkey, hanging their limply as he held on around James's neck. He gagged a bit before readjusting them, holding on to his legs as Harry barely peeked over his head. Remus stood and gave her a grin, making her sigh and roll her eyes as Sirius suggested a quick game of seeing who could push who off first. This made Fabian pluck his nephew off of Sirius's shoulders and shoot him a glare as James swung Harry around onto his side.


	20. Chapter 20

Ruby had just crash-landed onto Hogwarts.

Not that this was said in a joking tone, but she just literally crash-landed into the Whomping Willow with Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter.

McGonagall was throwing a fit. Pomfrey was throwing a fit. Given a few more hours and Lily Potter, Molly Weasley and Hermione Lupin would be throwing a fit as well.

Sirius, however, only stood back and watched the three's reactions. Ron had gone so pale that his freckles were standing out, Harry's eyes had gone extremely wide, and Ruby was smiling prettily and swinging her legs back and forth. The two seventh years were getting an earful, but of course Ruby wasn't as sweet and innocent as she led others to believe. Remus and Hermione often wondered where she could've possibly gotten it from, but Sirius knew. It was a mixture of the two, no doubt, just like Ruby was. She had curls, although not as unruly as her mother's, with Remus's hair color and Hermione's eyes. She was smart enough to have nearly gotten thrown into Ravenclaw, but was stubborn enough to demand Gryffindor, as there was no way she was going there alone without a friend.

"Professor McGonagall," Ruby spoke up, making the two boys blink at her in surprise and making McGonagall stop in her rant. Sirius only arched an eyebrow. "I understand that what we did was reckless and incredibly stupid, but it was for a good reason."

"And what reason might that be?" McGonagall asked.

"It had my cat," Ruby huffed as Harry shrunk a little in his seat, rubbing his eyes underneath his glasses. "I left Crookshanks here by accident, and I begged and pleaded with Harry who begged and pleaded with Ron to borrow the car to get him. We misjudged our landing, however."

"All your fault," Harry glared at her.

"How is it _my_ fault?" she practically screeched at him.

"You tilted the car!"

"I was watching Crookshanks!"

"Do you see what I have to put up with?" Ron asked McGonagall and Sirius as Dumbledore watched in dull amusement.

"Ruby, Harry, Ron," Sirius spoke up, frowning at the three, who immediately winced at him, "I'm calling your parents."

"Can we just stay here?" Harry asked nervously, already dreading the anger of his mum.

"Mum and Dad aren't inside," Ruby reminded him, making him sigh as he remembered that it was a full moon. Of course, they wouldn't have minded her going over to the Potter's then, as Remus was always worried that he'd hurt his daughter and wife. Hermione insisted that the Wolfsbane Potion wouldn't let him, but he refused to take any chances.

"It seems, Professor Black," Dumbledore finally spoke up, his intertwined hands propping up his chin, "That we might want to add 'flying cars' to your list of things the students must know how to fly."

Sirius gave a snort, rolling his eyes with a grin, "Yeah, you're telling me." He turned back to the three, arms folded over his chest as Ruby finally winced at Harry and Ron. "Alright, I'll Floo your parents and tell them where you are. You can stay in the Room of Requirement – the elves get miffed if students on break outside of Hogwarts go back in the dorms before break's over – and I'll try to calm them down with the whole '_at-least-they're-not-dead'_ speech again."

Harry jumped up to his feet with a sheepish grin, Ruby and Ron standing as well. "We might've used that one a bit too much now."

"Yeah," Ruby piped up, "Last time, Mum said she'd go back in time to stop herself from going back in time. And then she went through the whole '_but-if-I-stop-myself-from-going-back-in-time-then-I'd-have-never-had-a-daughter-to-stop-myself-from-going-back-in-time-and-then-I'd-go-back-in-time_' thing again. She did that for thirty minutes before Dad stopped her."

Sirius gave a wink, "Gotta love your mum. Her brains stop her from reprimanding you."

Ruby only grinned before following Harry and Ron out of the Headmaster's office.


	21. Chapter 21

"Good morning, Ruby," Hermione said, pecking her daughter's cheek before giving a tug on a curl.

"Murrah-hah," Ruby responded sleepily, rubbing at an eye, "G'morning, Mum."

"You nervous for today?" she asked, sitting down next to her as plopped into the sofa.

"Hah, I was in Gryffindor," Ruby shrugged easily, "What do I have to be afraid of?" When she looked over at her mother, she saw a disbelieving smirk and an arched eyebrow. She gave a whine and crumpled up into her lap, "Mummy, I'm so scared. I mean, I'm only getting married – why is that so scary?"

"Because it's a big step in your life, and after that there are more big steps ahead," Hermione said, running her hands through her hair, "You know, I was scared when I married your dad."

"What?" Remus snorted from the doorway to the kitchen, looking at her curiously, "Why?"

"Don't look at me like that," Hermione frowned as he sat next to her on the couch, "You were scared too."

Ruby smiled, rolling her eyes. She loved her parents – they were zany and weird, and that was probably how she turned out the way she did.

"I'm sorry to interrupt what will possibly be a good-natured argument," Ruby said as she sat up, "But I am freaking out. Please, oh please, help me."

"Ruby," Remus said, switching sides to sit next to her, "You could've said 'no' when he asked you to marry him. You can do this, we know you can."

"And we will drag you to the altar, because we both know that you really really love him."

"But I won't object if you wait to marry him until I'm dead," Remus grinned, tugging her into him as she laughed, "You can wait a few years, right?"

"If this is another one of those '_I'm old, Ruby_' speeches, then you're both insane," Ruby snorted, "Mum, Dad, you both can still take out bad guys like you're seventeen."

"And we never get paid for it," Hermione snorted, smiling as she knew that they were officially owning the bookshop, but unofficially helping the Aurors. "But Moody still is a trip."

"Constant vigilance!" Ruby muffled behind her father's arm, making them all chuckle. "Has anybody got the nerve to tell him that he's got to retire yet?"

"Nope," they shook their heads.

"Alright, alright," Ruby sighed after a few moments, standing up, "I'll go put on the stinkin' dress and look pretty for once in my entire life. Harry better appreciate what I'm doing for him."

"Honestly, honey, you could show up in sweatpants and a Quidditch jersey – he'd still think you're beautiful," Hermione smiled up at her.

"Can I do that?" Ruby asked excitedly.

Hermione frowned back at her, "No. I want good wedding pictures."

Ruby groaned and slumped up the stairs, making Remus stay silent until he heard her door shut. He turned to his wife and grinned at her, "You know who she sounds like?"

"Shut up," Hermione frowned at him, making him laugh and pull her into him, pecking her on the cheek with a grin.

* * *

**It's Harry and Ruby because I've got no other idea as to who she should marry. Plus – _Marauder grandbabies._ **


End file.
